intricate

EnglishEdit

Etymology 1Edit

From Latin intricatus, past participle of intricare.

PronunciationEdit

IPA^(key): /ˈɪn.tɹɪ.kət/
Audio (US) (file)

AdjectiveEdit

intricate (comparative more intricate, superlative most intricate)

Having a great deal of fine detail or complexity.
The architecture of this clock is very intricate.
- 1715 May 15 (Gregorian calendar), Joseph Addison, “The Free-holder: No. 39. Wednesday, May 4. [1715.]”, in The Works of the Right Honourable Joseph Addison, Esq; […], volume IV, London: […] Jacob Tonson, […], published 1721, OCLC 1056445272:
  His style of writing […] was […] fit to convey the most intricate business to the understanding […] with the utmost clearness.
- 1907 August, Robert W[illiam] Chambers, chapter V, in The Younger Set, New York, N.Y.: D. Appleton & Company, OCLC 24962326:
  As a matter of fact its narrow ornate façade presented not a single quiet space that the eyes might rest on after a tiring attempt to follow and codify the arabesques, foliations, and intricate vermiculations of what some disrespectfully dubbed as “near-aissance.”

TranslationsEdit

having a great deal of fine detail or complexity

Bulgarian: сложен (bg) (složen), заплетен (bg) (zapleten)
Catalan: intricat (ca)
Chinese:
Mandarin: 複雜 (zh), 复杂 (zh) (fùzá)
Dutch: ingewikkeld (nl), gecompliceerd (nl)
Finnish: monimutkainen (fi), konstikas (fi), mutkikas (fi)
French: compliqué (fr), tortueux (fr)
Galician: intricado m
Georgian: ჩახლართული (čaxlartuli)
German: aufwendig (de), kompliziert (de), ausgeklügelt (de), raffiniert (de), kunstvoll (de), knifflig (de), verzwickt (de), vertrackt (de), verwickelt (de), filigran (de), diffizil (de)
Greek: μπερδεμένος (el) (berdeménos)
Ancient: πολύπλοκος (polúplokos)
Hebrew: מסובך‎, מורכב‎ (he)
Hungarian: tekervényes (hu), bonyolult (hu), szövevényes (hu), komplikált (hu)
Irish: casta, achrannach, aimhréidh, cas, doraidh, doréidh, eanglamtha
Italian: intricato (it)
Japanese: 複雑 (ja) (ふくざつ, fukuzatsu)
Korean: 복잡(複雜)하다 (ko) (bokjap-hada)
Latin: contortus, nodosus
Macedonian: заплеткан (zapletkan)
Manx: cramp
Maori: takawhiwhiwhiwhi, takawhīwhiwhi, matatini
Norwegian:
Bokmål: intrikat (no)

Nynorsk: intrikat
Plautdietsch: derchjehäakjat
Portuguese: intrincado
Russian: сло́жный (ru) (slóžnyj), запу́танный (ru) (zapútannyj), замыслова́тый (ru) (zamyslovátyj)
Scottish Gaelic: eadar-fhighte
Slovak: zložitý, komplikovaný
Spanish: intrincado (es)
Swedish: intrikat (sv), invecklad (sv)
Tagalog: saligutgot
Turkish: ince işçilik
Vietnamese: phức tạp (vi) (複雜)
Zazaki: cıtêfil m, cıtêfile f

Etymology 2Edit

As the adjective; or by analogy with extricate.

PronunciationEdit

IPA^(key): /ˈɪn.tɹɪ.keɪt/

VerbEdit

intricate (third-person singular simple present intricates, present participle intricating, simple past and past participle intricated)

(intransitive) To become enmeshed or entangled.
- 1864 October 18, J.E. Freund, “How to Avoid the Use of Lint”, letter to the editor, in The New York Times (1864 October 23):
  […] washes off easily, without sticking or intricating into the wound.
(transitive) To enmesh or entangle: to cause to intricate.
- 1994 December 12, William Safire, “Avoid Dunkirk II” (essay), in The New York Times:
  But the British and French won't hear of that; they want to get their troops extricated and our ground troops intricated.